Abstract
I had my first very close encounter with a dead body when I was working as a nursing assistant in a local hospital. As we readied the body for the family, I was struck by how this body defied all of my expectations of how dead bodies were supposed to behave. The skin was soft, warm, and supple. Blood continued to rush, and then eventually merely weep, from injection sites, the coagulation cascade still diligently at work. More than anything, I was fascinated by my surprise. In the context of Western medicine, death has been so pervasively medicalized that many, if not most, people will die in hospitals or medical care facilities. Death is not warm or comfortable; we describe it as cold and impersonal, and this characterization reflects our innate fear of death itself. This view of death began to decay as we bathed a body that was so recently alive. I wondered if we could one day be rid of the wartime metaphors of fighting and victory and defeat. Metaphors and analogies work to protect us with distance, but an increased proximity could restore the quiet intimacy which I have found to be beneficial in beginning the grieving process.To view the original version of this poem, see the supplemental material section of this article online.
what a shame that we’ve whisked death away, hidden it in the shadow of fear, taboo. we say that people pass, they transition, go home. we douse ourselves with euphemisms and yet our tongues tie like shoelaces when it comes time to admit someone is dead. what a shame that less and less death calls at home and instead, lurks in sterile fluorescent wards. we call bodies cold, and cold they are after the undertaker works their magic. but what a shame that no one told me dead bodies are warm, at least for a bit, and that they still bleed when you remove IVs after the line lays flat after the family bids goodbye as the morgue waits patiently the body is still warm, at least for a bit, and soft to the touch.
Supplementary Material
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